ScotSTAR staff raise funds for charity in support of colleague

Scottish Ambulance Service staff will run a relay between Glasgow Airport to each each hospital helipad in the area to raise money for charity after a colleague suffered a stroke.

Around 15 staff members, all members of the Service’s ScotSTAR department, took part in the run on September 14 and 15 to support Richard Fisher.

They smashed their original target of £1,000 and have raised over £7,000 so far.

All money will go towards charity Stroke Association, which has been chosen by Richard and his wife Mo, 

The distance the runners will cover is around 240km.
Robin Mayhew, Advanced Retrieval Practitioner Team Leader, is one of those taking part and helped coordinate the run.

He said: “Richard, our colleague, had a stroke while he was about to go on holiday in London. Fortunately for Richard, he got a thrombectomy quickly and is making a good recovery. As a team we want to raise awareness of this terrible disease and raise funds for those who are in need of support.

“The idea came about that we would run from Campbeltown, where Richard is from, to the airport, where we work. When it was pointed out that won’t be possible logistically, we decided to run the same distance but based from the airport.

“We plan to visit the various helipads around Glasgow that we have all been to; the RAH, Golden Jubilee and the Queen Elizabeth. We have about 15 runners taking part, but others have expressed an interest and will no doubt join in on the day.”

The team is a mixture of runners, and ‘reluctant runners’, Robin including himself in the latter category. He added: “Some have experience of endurance races, some run weekly, others less often.

All want to show support to Richard and raise awareness and money for a worthwhile charity.

“For training, we are all running, and planning the routes we will take. It is going to be an exercise in both running and sleep deprivation, with 4 hours or so between legs.”

To support the run visit Robin Mayhew is fundraising for Stroke Association (justgiving.com)